The Cure
by Jaylynne124
Summary: Jasper overcomes one of her biggest struggles yet: learning to love. This is something I’ve been writing, on and off over the past two years. Although a disliked ship of the fandom, Grasper holds a place near and dear to my heart. Enjoy! (Rating will increase chapters in, will post warning!)
1. Chapter 1

Jasper sat alone on a rock by the ocean. Her body twitched silently, coming back down from one of her post-corruption fits. Every so often, since she had been cured, her vision would go blurry and her body would feel a sharp stinging for a minute or two, making her cry out, and then it would stop. She was slowly getting used to it, but the pain was still overbearing. She looked down at her hand that had once been a split hoof and rubbed her fingers.

She was somewhat thankful for what the little mutant had done for her. He had saved her from the constant gnawing and discomfort of corruption, that she now only felt for a couple minutes a week. On the other hand, she had almost wished he had just left her alone to perish. She felt like a failure, coming back to the place of her creation, only to be defeated by none other than the crystal gems, and later forced into an unhealthy fusion for over a year. And now look at her. She had been wandering the ocean for two years, stuck. Of course she had thought about leaving, but where would she go?

She no longer had any purpose to serve. She could feel a tear running down her cheek and quickly wiped it away, her weakening emotions making her feel even more useless. Jasper brought her knees up to her chest and curled up on the rock, never having felt so alone in her life.

She thought about her diamond. Pink diamond. She had been merciful and kind. She felt love for all of her subjects, unlike the typical tyrannical figure. She loved the Earth. And she loved Jasper.

Or so Jasper thought.

The buff beta had been Pink's "special Jasper". Being so strong and clean cut compared to some of the other betas, Pink had given her responsibility for all of her most important missions. Jasper was happy to comply, until one day she returned from a mission, to find her diamond shattered, the pieces of her gem found splayed across the floor like raindrops. It had broke Jasper's heart, and after being assigned to Yellow shortly after, she made it her duty to go back to Earth to find Pink's killer: Rose Quartz, and shatter her as well.

When she had the chance to come to Earth on a mission with Peridot, it had certainly surprised her to find Rose Quartz in some small humanized body form that seemed to have no recollection of what she was talking about. Jasper had learned that the one she thought was Rose, was actually Rose's son. And that everything she had spent her life fighting for had been a lie. Her beloved Pink diamond was actually Rose Quartz. She rubbed her throbbing head with both hands and cried out.

It was getting dark, but Jasper saw no reason for her to move from the rock. What was the point? She shivered as a cold ocean breeze blew over her, and looked out on the horizon where the sun was almost behind the water. Several colors filled the sky, and she could remember Pink telling her that this was one of the reasons she had loved her planet so much. "You remind me of the sunsets on Earth, my Jasper. I do hope you get to see one someday, oh, they are so beautiful."

She felt her cheeks drenched and choked on her tears, though she had tried everything in her power not to break down like this. She let out a few quiet sobs before trying to compose herself.

Everything was a lie.

Everything, was a lie.

Jasper didn't even hear footsteps approaching her and jumped when she heard a voice, "Hey, are you okay?"

She wiped her face and glared at the small man in front of her. "What do you want, human?"

"I just wanted to see if you were okay. My name's Greg. You're Jasper, right?"

Jasper hopped down from the rock looking him dead in the eye. "How do you know who I am?"

"I-I'm Steven's dad. He told me about how you were corrupted and that he healed you." He nervously scratched the back of his neck as he could feel her eyes drilling down on him. "Y-you might not want to stay out on this rock overnight. The tide will come in and-"

"What's 'dad'?"

"Oh, well...a dad is someone who helps guide their kid through life, I guess?"

Jasper simply stared at him without a word.

"Anyway...I just wanted to warn you about the tide."

"I'll be fine." Jasper replied gruffly climbing back on top of the rock.

"Well, okay. My van is parked about a half mile that way if you need anything." He said, watching as she laid down to make herself comfortable on the boulder. "Nice to finally meet you, Jasper."

Jasper grunted in response, not moving from her position, and curled her legs up to her chest, as she watched the odd human walk away.

~

Stars began to appear in the clear sky, where Jasper could see Homeworld's galaxy. She reached her hand up as if to touch the familiar constellations, hoping that somehow she could just return home, and everything would be normal again...

But it wouldn't be normal. Never again. She literally had no purpose to serve anymore. She was as good as shattered.

She had no intentions of exploring this planet or going off any farther than the shore, so she lay on the rock ready to accept whatever fate had to throw at her.

And then the tide came in.

Jasper coughed, getting a mouthful of salty sea water, when a big wave knocked her out of a sleepless daze. She groaned, being pushed from her rock, onto the wet soggy sand. She attempted to wipe it away only for it to get stuck to her hands and arms. The wet sand was all through her hair and in her mouth, and she spat into the water. She tried washing it off in the ocean, but it only made things worse. She cursed, kicking the ground, and making rude remarks about this stupid planet. The tiny grains of sand refused to wipe from her body, and she shivered, instantly feeling cold from the ocean water and night air. Looking over, she saw a dim light where Greg said he would be if she needed help. Rolling her eyes, she practically stomped over to where he was staying, and opened the door without even knocking.

Greg shot up from his mattress, seeing who was at his doorway. "The tide came in."

Greg couldn't help but chuckle under his breath, "I can see that." He grabbed her a towel from one of his compartments. "You have a little sand in your...everywhere."

"Yeah," she snatched the towel, "I know."

Greg darted his eyes as she toweled off. Jasper groaned, the sand being extremely difficult to remove from her uniform. "Earth is so messy. I hate this planet."

"Ehh, it's not all bad," Greg shrugged, "messy can be good sometimes."

"Hmph, says you." Jasper retorted, wrapping the towel around her hair to ring out some of the water.

Greg stared at the current chaotic state of his van and laughed uneasily, "Heh, yeah I guess you're right."

Jasper tossed back the towel and rustled her hand through her hair, shaking out some excess sand. "Thanks for assisting me. Human."

"You're welcome. You can call me Greg, you know."

Jasper stared at him for a second, before turning, "Are...you gonna be okay tonight?" Greg asked, as she began walking away.

"As if anything could hurt me." She replied, closing his doors with a short laugh.


	2. Chapter 2

"Jasper."

Jasper skidded to a halt, her hair jagging in surprise to the deep voice of the fusion.

Garnet stood behind her with Pearl and Amethyst. "We have a mission, and I believe we could use your help."

"You want _my_ help?"

"Garnet, this is a waste of time. She's not going to consider-" Pearl's mumbling was interrupted by the fusion.

"I see a corrupted gem whose strength outweighs all of us. With Jasper, we may be able to capture and bubble it."

Garnet sounded unenthused by the idea of Jasper even being in the same vicinity as the crystal gems, but it had been a while since Jasper had beat anyone up.

"I-I'll help you."

Garnet nodded silently and walked towards the temple. The rest of the gems followed until they arrived at the warp pad. Jasper noticed that Amethyst had been surprisingly quiet the entire time, other than seeing her whisper to Pearl a few times on their way.

They loaded onto the warp pad and suddenly Garnet grabbed Jasper by her collar, pulling her to her eye level. Her expression unchanging, Garnet threatened quietly, "Don't think we trust you after everything you did. Try anything funny, and you're out. Got it?"

Jasper nodded quickly.

Garnet let go of her, seeing Amethyst and Pearl's worried expressions. "Focus gems."

"Right." Pearl and Amethyst answered, readying their weapons, as Garnet activated the pad.

Jasper went to summon her helmet, and nothing happened. "What the-"

The gems looked back at Jasper. "My helmet isn't summoning."

"Can you fight?" Amethyst asked, sounding a bit concerned.

"I-It'll be fine! I can fight just as good without it." Jasper reassured them.

How bad could this monster be?

It had 10 arms. Not to mention the creature was eight times the size of Jasper herself.

"What is up with this thing?!" Amethyst cried as she struggled to wrap her whip around one of its twisting arms.

The creature had no face, just a large gapping hole, Jasper guessed was it's mouth, that would open every few minutes and let out a deafening screech.

"Do any of you see its gem?" Pearl shouted, slicing through a thick part of one of it's limbs, only to see it heal back in a matter of seconds.

Jasper dodged the creature's every blow it threw at her and darted her eyes around to locate its gem. She got in front of the beast and punched it hard between a pair of arms. The monster's jaw opened in another loud scream, as Jasper held her ears and glanced up to see a red gem hidden in the center of it's mouth.

_Oh, great._ She groaned, "Hey! I found it!"

"Where is it?" Pearl wailed, getting a bit exhausted from fighting with the never ending appendages.

"It's inside." Jasper growled, attempting to summon her helmet again and succeeding. She laughed victoriously. "Let me handle this! Get that thing to open up its mouth again!"

Garnet looked to Pearl, who was currently being shook about in the fists of one of the creatures arms. "You have one shot!" Without hesitation, Garnet jumped to the top of the monster and sent a big punch down its middle with the power of her gauntlets.

The monster immediately squealed in agony, and Jasper began to charge at its center.

Her eyes began to blur.

No. Not now.

Everything suddenly began to move in slow motion, as she collapsed and was immediately filled with excruciating pain. She cried out, seeing Garnet's punch cause the creature to anger and grow even more limbs out of its upper body. The arms grabbed Garnet and began to twist her body, as if to rip it in half. She could hear Pearl screaming as it did the same to her. The gem monster made its way over to Jasper's writhing body and lifted her up in it's clutches as well. Stinging tears fell down her face as she saw Garnet's form dissipating before her very eyes, to become unfused. Out of the corner of her sight she could see the Amethyst spiraling towards the creature's opening and jumping inside. The monster closed it's large mouth, only to be broken as Amethyst viciously ripped out the gem from the back of it's throat. The other gems fell from the monster's grip onto the ground with a thud. Heaving, and covered in saliva, Amethyst captured the red gem and bubbled it away.

Shaking and before Jasper could even catch her breath, Garnet lumbered over and looked down at her angrily. "You almost got us all killed. You had an opening, and you didn't take it-"

"What's the matter with you?" Pearl loudly interrupted. "How could you possibly mi-"

"GUYS." Amethyst stepped in front of them. "It's okay, I got the gem."

"No thanks to her." Garnet crossed her arms.

"Seriously? Don't you guys think you're being a little harsh?"

Pearl replied under her breath, "Harsh? It's Jasper."

Amethyst rolled her eyes as they walked away, turning around to Jasper. "You okay?"

Jasper nodded, not expecting to be defended by none other than Amethyst.

"I-I'm sorry. This has just been happening to me ever since I was healed." Jasper replied quietly, her legs still trembling.

"It's over. We got the gem. Let's go." Garnet said abruptly, heading back towards the warp pad. The other gems followed without a word.

When they got back to the house, Garnet and Pearl went their separate ways into their rooms, leaving Jasper and Amethyst behind.

"Hey.."

"What?" Jasper replied sharply, sounding like she could cry.

"I just wanted to say...good job on the mission today."

"You don't have to lie to me."

"Listen Jasper, I know what it's like to be the underdog of the group. It'll get better, you're still healing."

Jasper sighed.

"Ignore Garnet and Pearl. They tend to hold grudges for a while, but you're okay in my book sis."

Jasper looked up at Amethyst quirking her eyebrow. "Sis?"

"Yeah, we're Quartz sisters." She held out her fist to fist bump her. "For life."

Jasper mirrored the purple gem's fist motion, as she pounded their fists together. With that, Amethyst smiled and walked toward her room.

"Amethyst."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

~

Jasper walked back to the beach from the house. It was about 6 o'clock and the sun was just beginning to set. She heard a strange sound and stopped walking. Looking around her she began to follow the sound until it led her to Greg's vehicle.

He stopped when he heard her approach the van.

"Oh, hey Jasper."

"What is that thing?" She pulled the instrument from his hands and examined it. "Is it some kind of advanced humanized weapon?"

"Only a weapon of extreme...rocking out!!!" Greg replied, excitedly strumming an air guitar.

Jasper stared at him.

"No, no it's not a weapon." He reached out for it and Jasper handed it back. Greg strummed it's strings, "It's called a guitar. It makes music."

"Music?"

"Yeah! Like this." he played a few chords of one of his songs.

Jasper was fascinated by this new object. She climbed up into his van, reached out and brushed her finger against the strings creating the sound. "Heh."

"You like that?" Greg crawled up to the front of his van and pulled out an old CD pushing it into the player. "There's so much more than just that!"

Jasper listened intently to the music and couldn't help but crack a small smile.

"But then you take that music, and you add words. You sing."

"Sing?"

Of course Jasper knew what singing was. The entire Diamond Authority were all blessed with beautiful voices. However, beyond that, gems singing on Homeworld had been otherwise frowned upon, or found annoying in most cases.

He played along with the audio and sang, "_But the moment that I hit the stage, thousands of voices are calling my name_

_And I know in my heart it's been worth it all of the while~" _

His voice was soothing to hear and Jasper could feel herself turning red for some reason.

"How do you even know what to say?"

"Heh, you can say whatever you want! Music is free. That's why it's so great."

He watched as her eyes were glued to his stringed instrument.

"Some music doesn't have any singing in it. Maybe playing music is more your style." He handed her his guitar. Jasper took it back and put it across her lap like he had held it. She strummed a couple strings, smiling from the vibration it produced.

"I can show you how to play a little, if you want."

Jasper shrugged, staring down at the instrument, "Okay."

Over the next couple hours he taught her a few frets and by the evening she could play a simple tune.

"Wow, you picked that up pretty quickly, I'm impressed." Greg smiled up at the gem, putting away the guitar in its case.

Jasper settled down into Greg's slightly cramped van, making herself as comfortable as possible, "Hmm, too bad I'm not as impressive at fighting gem monsters as I am playing with your...what's it called again?"

"A guitar."

"Right."

"Did something happen during your mission today?"

"I don't think Pearl and Garnet trust me. I mean, I don't blame them. But I've lost my stuff. I'm not as strong as I was before I became...corrupted."

"And you're having trouble keeping up with the other gems?"

There was silence.

"Yeah."

"Maybe you just need some energy food. Lemme whip something up for you."

"Food?" She hadn't eaten anything in years, and when she had it wasn't much. She almost couldn't remember how it felt to eat.

She watched him as he pulled a loaf of bread from one of his side compartments and a bag of some yellowish colored squares out of an ice chest. He had a small makeshift waffle iron that worked as a stovetop, and he covered the bottom with a strange white, melting stick.

He put a slice of bread down first, followed by a few of the yellow squares and finished with another slice of bread.

"This is a little something I like to call, grilled cheese sandwich."

He flipped the bread over, browning both sides and handed it to her on a plastic plate. She poked at it, observing the cheese oozing from it's sides and waited until Greg made his sandwich to eat. She wasn't sure if she even knew how to. She watched Greg bite into his sandwich, chew and swallow it down. She did the same as the cheese stretched from the sandwich to her mouth. She chewed it up, absorbing its flavor and swallowed it.

Finding the taste to be quite pleasant, she immediately went back for another bite.

"How is it?" Greg laughed, watching her scarf it down.

"It's good!"

In seconds she had the entire sandwich eaten. She ran her tongue over her teeth, savoring the unique flavor of the gooey cheese.

"Want another one? I have some bread and cheese left."

Jasper nodded gratefully, as Greg began to prepare another. And soon another after that.

"How about something to drink?"

Greg rooted through his ice chest and pulled out a bottle of grape soda. He grabbed a mug and poured some out for her. Handing her the mug, she looked to him again, unsure of how exactly she was supposed to consume this. Greg understood and poured himself a cup as well.

"Like this," he tipped the cup back and swallowed a sip.

She followed his lead and titled it back, licking her lips. This was delicious too! In three big gulps, she finished off the rest.

Greg chuckled, "So you like grilled cheese AND grape soda. We're off to a great start."

Jasper smiled slightly, before she felt a strange grumbling in her stomach. She put her hand over the space where the growling was coming from and couldn't help when a low rumbling sound came from her throat. She quickly covered her mouth, "What was that?!"

Greg chuckled again, "It's called burping, but don't worry, it's natural. It just happens sometimes when you eat too fast."

Jasper rubbed her throat, as it happened again. "It _does_ make me feel better."

Greg couldn't help but laugh, "Yeah, that's the idea."

The two were interrupted when they heard Pearl and Garnet walking towards the van.

"Hello Greg, do you have Steven's-" Pearl was cut short when she realized he wasn't alone. "Jasper?"

Jasper awkwardly held up a hand in greeting.

"W-what are you doing here?"

"I was just showing Jasper some Earth stuff. She's already good at the guitar, and she ate _three_ sandwiches-"

Jasper blushed lightly, knowing the human was trying to talk her up to Pearl. The fusion Garnet, simply stood behind Pearl with that constant vacant stare.

"Well, do you think it's really appropriate for you to-"

"It's alright Pearl." Garnet finally spoke up, putting her hand on Pearl's shoulder.

"W-what?"

"Just grab Steven's book that he left here, Greg will be fine."

Greg turned around, finding the library book Steven had left in his van the other night, handing it to the gems.

Garnet walked away silently, as Pearl hesitantly followed. "Goodnight Greg."

"Goodnight Garnet, Pearl." Greg waved goodbye.

"Huh, I can see what you mean about the tension..." Greg said to the striped gem, who watched them leap away.

"I have a feeling it'll be this way for a while." She replied grumpily.

"Well...you can always call me a friend." Greg smiled.

Jasper couldn't help but catch his contagious grin, "Thanks...Greg."

~

Garnet paced back and forth in her room, Ruby and Sapphire in an all out argument about what she had just seen.

"How could this be an outcome? How is this—even possible??"

"You mean to tell me...that Jasper and Greg could..." Garnet locked her hands together, looking down at her two gems.


	3. Chapter 3

It was late nighttime and Greg knew he needed to turn in soon. He enjoyed spending time with this gem, and he certainly didn't want to turn her away for the night.

He yawned, "Hey, you're more than welcome to stay here overnight, but I need to go to sleep. I have to go to work early tomorrow morning."

"Oh. Okay." Jasper didn't want to admit that she kind of liked being around someone else. She was tired of being alone.

"Do you sleep?"

Jasper raised an eyebrow and laughed, "I'm a Quartz Guard." She crossed her arms behind her head. "I never sleep."

"Oh, alright. Then goodnight Jasper."

"Mhmm."

She watched the human lay down on his small mattress and pull the blankets over his body. Her thoughts went back to being under Pink Diamond's command. Pink had found an admiration for the humans on Earth and started a human zoo. Jasper remembered watching them interact with each other down in the gardens. Compared to Greg, that all seemed... unnatural.

He didn't live in a step by step daily routine, he lived his life the way he wanted to. He devoted his life to things like learning guitar, singing, he made amazing grilled cheese sandwiches, and he worked at a car wash. It all sounded so simple, yet so interesting.

She glanced around the van, when her eyes landed upon a picture containing a familiar face. She reached across Greg's sleeping body and pulled the picture from the wall. In the picture with Greg was none other than Rose Quartz. Jasper glanced down at the sleeping human and then back at the photo. She was starting to put the pieces together.

Greg and Rose had "choosened" each other. Jasper had learned long ago how human babies were made while observing the zoo, but she never knew that it could be possible to create life between a human and a gem. She looked up at the other photo he had of Steven.

His son.

She had knocked out Greg's son.

Surely he knew about that, she had given him a black eye. She put the picture back in it's place and covered her mouth with her hand, feeling deep regret for what she had done. What Jasper couldn't understand was why this man was being so kind to her. He was letting her take shelter in his van, he cooked for her and taught her guitar. She couldn't figure it out.

The sun began to rise over the water and a loud beeping sound awoke her from her daydream. Greg groaned and swiped across the screen of his communication device, immediately stopping the shrill sound. He sat up and stretched, cracking his back, "Morning Jasper."

She watched him scrounge around a pile of clothes for a new shirt.

"You make interesting sounds when you sleep."

Greg laughed, "Was I snoring last night? Sorry, if I was disturbing you. Next time just roll me over."

Jasper nodded, raising her eyebrows when the human removed his tshirt, revealing his dreadful sunburn lines. The gem reached out for his arm and observed it. Greg looked at her skeptically, wondering what she was thinking. "Um..Jasper?"

She looked down at him with a small smile, "I never saw a human with stripes."

Greg looked to her in confusion, before bursting out in laughter, "Oh, these aren't stripes. This is sunburn. It happens when humans don't protect their skin from the sun." He grabbed a stick of deodorant and rubbed It underneath his arms. "And, unfortunately, my skin is very sensitive to the sun."

Jasper turned red due to her misunderstanding. "Oh."

"Heh, it's okay Jasper, simple mistake." He pulled on his new shirt. "I _do_ like your stripes though."

"Thanks." Jasper smiled rubbing her arm.

Greg grabbed a granola bar and his jacket, ready to head off to work. "Do you wanna come with me? It'd be nice to have some company."

Jasper shrugged. What else did she have to do anyway? She walked around the van to the seat opposite of the driver's. Surprising to both Greg and herself, she fit into the seat when pushed back all the way. He drove them a short distance to where the car wash was. Apparently he ran this entire business by himself.

Whistling, Greg hopped out of the van, followed by Jasper. "Well, this is the wash. Not much, but basically my second home." He unlocked the door and turned on the lights. "Also my bathroom."

Greg pointed his thumb back towards the room, "There's also a shower in there if you would ever need it. Gems bathe, right?"

Jasper thought back to the glorious bathing chambers on Homeworld. Where water came down in fountains and the most exquisite of perfumes and washes would pour down from the ceilings. Quartz soldiers were passionate about their Diamonds, fighting, and most importantly: well kept flowing hair.

"Yes." She looked in at the old fashioned plain white tiled floor, with a plastic curtain surrounding it. "Of course our bath houses look nothing like...this."

"Yeah," Greg scratched the back of his neck, "I've been meaning to remodel. Ever since I started working here, this has been where I wash, and I've worked here for...well, a long time."

Jasper nodded.

"I'll tell you what though, we can go to the store later and you can pick out a shampoo you like."

"A what?"

"Shampoo, it's the stuff you wash your hair with."

What an unusual name.

"Fine. So what is it you do here?"

"Well it's a car wash, so I wash cars, vans, trucks, you name it."

Jasper listened intently, "Its usually not that busy here, but we have our good days." Greg continued with a smile.

He brought her outside to what looked like an open garage with nozzles and hoses strapped onto the walls. "This is where people go if they just want a quick wash. They just put money in the machine and drive through it." He pressed a button on the outside of the building and water, soap and steam sprayed from every angle.

"Most people prefer when I wash it by hand though. It's more work, but..." he picked up a bucket and sponge, "I don't really mind."

Jasper couldn't figure Greg out. He was almost _too_ good. She never met anyone with this much kindness and generosity, let alone a human.

He set out two lawn chairs under the shade of the wash, and brought out a cooler and his radio. Pressing the power button, he turned on a classic rock station and set back on the chair. "And now, we wait."

Jasper simply stared at him, while settling down on the chair. "That's all?"

"Yeah, not the most exciting of jobs, but it pays the bills. Gotta keep the temple in check."

"You mean, you're taking care of the place they stay?" She asked, pointing towards the hill. "Why don't you live there?"

"Heh, well, I built that place for Steven and the gems. I wanted to stay out of their hair, not bother them while they're trying to teach him. Up until a while ago, the gems didn't really...like me that much."

"Why not?" How on earth could anyone not like Greg?

"Uhhh, you see," he scratched his neck, "they thought I was the reason, that...Rose Quartz was gone. Which, I mean, I guess I kind of am." Jasper could see he was hurting and immediately felt guilty for bringing anything up.

"Ah, forget it. Anyway...I just thought Steven should live with the gems, instead of his dad. What stuff could he learn from a guy like me that an ancient gem couldn't teach him?"

Jasper bit her lip, looking towards him.

"Well...I've learned more about Earth from you than any other gem historian, Peridot or Agate, in just two days." Greg smiled at her, making her turn away. "So I think that's something."

"Thanks."

Jasper nodded, and was startled when she heard a loud honking sound.

"There's our first customer." Greg picked up his bucket and sponge, heading over to the vehicle. Jasper followed behind, watching as the customer handed Greg a couple green papers, she assumed was their form of currency. The customer was very loud and seemed to be in a bad mood. Greg stuffed the money in his pocket and began to scrub.

"And make sure you get the undercarriage cleaned, you always seem to skimp on that part." The customer sneered.

Jasper walked next to Greg, giving a rude expression towards the customer. "_Nice guy_."

Greg sucked air through his teeth whispering, "Yeah, no kidding. It's just hard to clean the undercarriage because it's literally underneath the vehicle."

Jasper looked at the car for a second before moving to the back end. Placing her hands under the back, she lifted the car up, almost effortlessly at a 45 degree angle. Surprised shouts came from the driver as he tipped forward into his windshield. "Go ahead and wash it, I'll hold it up for you." Jasper told the slightly horrified human.

But Greg wasted no time, and scrubbed the undercarriage clean in under two minutes. Jasper gently put the car down, as the customer barged out of the door. Ready to shout at Greg, he took notice of the towering woman and his mind went blank. "Yeah, that's what I thought." Jasper threatened.

The customer thoroughly inspected his car, even going to great lengths to slide underneath it to check the bottom. After a few short minutes the customer walked up to Greg and Jasper. "I was going to deduct money from your pay but it hasn't been this clean since the day I bought it." He handed Greg another twenty dollars before driving away.

Greg looked down at the money, and up at Jasper. "Well that worked out nicely."

Jasper grinned, "You're welcome, for being terrifying and destructive." She replied cracking her knuckles.


	4. Chapter 4

Greg carried a single bag of groceries and supplies to the van, while Jasper carried the other five.

Jasper pulled her selected bottle of shampoo from the bag and carried it on the drive home. She looked at the bottle, seeing a picture of Earth fruit of some kind and a wavy logo.

"Can I try this stuff?" She asked pointing to the bottle.

Greg smiled, "Sure. I think I'm in need of a shower as well."

He drove them to the wash and got in the back to grab his body wash and two towels. He paused, holding up the one towel. This was most definitely too small for Jasper. He looked around his van for a bigger towel with no luck. Glancing around he saw a bed sheet and shrugged. That'd work.

Jasper took the sheet from him and followed him into the wash. "You can go first, I'll be right outside."

She nodded and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door. Putting her towel on the ground outside of the shower, she phased away her clothing. She stepped inside, ready for the water to fall. It didn't. She tapped at the shower head, wondering what she was doing wrong.

"Nothing's happening!" She shouted.

"There's a knob under the shower head, just turn it and water should come out!" She heard him reply through the door.

Jasper hesitantly turned the knob until a cold stream of water shot out. She jumped back in surprise. "It takes a little while to get warm!" She heard him shout again.

Jasper waited about a minute before she could feel it getting warmer. She turned it up higher and began to wet her hair. It was a bit awkward, her head poked out over the shower curtain and she had to crouch while getting under the water. She sighed, it did feel good though. She squirted the pink shampoo into her hair, realizing that she had used nearly one fourth of the bottle. The soap had a pleasant scent to it, as she massaged it into her scalp, and scrubbed the ends. The feeling of the water rinsing the soap clean from her hair, had always been a satisfactory one, and she sighed in bliss again.

Once she was sure her hair was completely rinsed, she turned off the water and reached out for her towel. She dried her body first, before wrapping it around her hair. Phasing back her uniform, on her slightly damp body, she told Greg he could come in.

Greg hesitantly came in, making sure she was actually decent. "How'd the shampoo work out for you?"

"Good, used a lot though."

"I figured..it's okay." He waited for her to make a move to leave. "So...I'll get my shower now."

"Okay?"

"Do you wanna...wait out there, or?"

"Oh that's right, you humans like privacy."

"Do gems on Homeworld not take private showers?

"Oh, no. They're public."

Greg turned red, immediately picturing several naked Quartzes bathing. Together.

"I see..."

"I'll just wait out here for you." Jasper couldn't help but crack a smile seeing how uncomfortable he was after that realization.

She walked out the door and chuckled, drying her hair with the towel. While he was showering she decided to look around his office. On various shelves there were boxes containing books, magazines, old comic books, cassettes, CDs, and old VCR tapes. She looked through a box of movies, not exactly sure what they were, but just interested in the pictures on the covers.

Greg walked out of the bathroom shortly, drying his hair as well. "I see you found my movie collection. Wanna watch one tonight?"

"Movie?"

"Yeah, movie. You'll see, they're moving pictures. You put them in this small player and it shows up on the tv screen."

Jasper had no idea what he was talking about.

"Why don't you pick one out you think looks interesting? You can't go wrong."

Jasper sorted through them and randomly picked one out shrugging, "This one?" She handed him the tape.

"Oooh, this one is a doozy. Pretty sad, but one of the best romances of all time."

"You said I couldn't go wrong."

"You're right, fine, we'll watch Titanic."

"Okay but she definitely could have pulled Jack on top with her, there was clearly plenty of room for him to fit."

Greg nodded, "I know, that's what I'm saying. Guess the producers wanted a tragedy instead of a 'happy romance'." Greg replied, eating the last of their popcorn.

"But why did he have to die? I feel like he deserved so much better."

"That's Hollywood for you, Jasper."

She didn't know what he meant by that, and combed her fingers through her tangly hair.

"Wait, I have a hair brush you can use." Greg grabbed one from off a shelf.

"Here, turn around."

Jasper did as instructed, and turned her back towards him. Greg brushed through her thick white hair, followed by his fingers running over the top. Jasper tried not to blush, the feeling of his touch so pleasing and so gentle.

"Your hair is so soft."

"It's a Quartz's greatest quality so I would hope so." She joked.

Greg was too shy to admit that he missed this dearly. It had been several years and he still had memories of doing this very thing with Rose.

He began to feel his eyes tear up and paused to quickly wipe his face. Jasper immediately turned around and he averted his eyes, trying to hide his puffy eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry, it's nothing, really. The movie just made me a little emotional."

Jasper quirked her eyebrows, not quite believing him, but let him continue brushing her hair.

"Hey, I think I want to try sleeping tonight."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Can you teach me how?"

Greg put down the brush and laid a fluffed pillow down and pulled some blankets back.

"Well...first you lay down." He motioned to his mattress and Jasper laid down on top of it, her feet touching the edge of the van door. He pulled the blankets over her body even though they only covered her top half.

"Are you warm enough?" He asked.

"Yes," Jasper replied, she looked at him, offering him one of her many blankets.

"Thanks." He took it smiling, and laid beside her on a few stacked pillows.

"And now you just close your eyes."

She did as she was told and waited a moment.

"Nothing's happening." She whispered.

Greg chuckled. "Sometimes it takes a while to fall asleep. Try clearing your mind, just listen to the waves outside, and focus on the sound of your breathing."

Jasper took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Greg waited, and knew she was out when she started exhaling heavily. Smiling, he pulled a blanket up to his chest, and laid down to rest his own body. He lay on his side to watch Jasper sleep, and realized that he was probably the first person to ever see her like this.

She was beautiful.


	5. Chapter 5

Jasper woke up to the sound of Greg's beeping machine, sitting up in the makeshift bed suddenly. She felt strange, groggy, yet she felt like she had needed to do that for some time now. Greg blinked open his eyes, turning off the noisy racket.

He yawned, "Mmmorning Jasper."

"Greg." She nodded.

He stretched his arms, cracking his joints, a thing she noticed he did daily. She watched him switch his bed shirt to a fresh one, and brush through his hair.

"How about we go out for breakfast? What'dya say? Wanna try more foods?"

Jasper shrugged, "Okay."

He drove them to a small diner where they seated themselves at a booth. "So what? You get to pick what you want to eat here?"

"Yeah, it's pretty great. I'll set you up with some pancakes and bacon, I have a feeling you'll like it."

"Mmm..." Jasper flicked at the menu in front of her and felt the table vibrate.

"Your communicator keeps lighting up." Jasper pointed to Greg's phone laying on the table.

Greg picked up the phone and opened the message, "It's from a website called , someone in my area wants to know if I'm free tonight for a date...wow." He stared at his phone in surprise.

"A...date?"

"It's a human thing. When one person likes another person, they go out on dates. They can go for picnics, to the movies, out to a restaurant..."

"This?"

"What?"

"This is a date. What we're doing?"

Greg laughed nervously, "Well, I wouldn't really call it uh..." he coughed, clearing his throat, "a date is more like something you do with someone you like romantically."

"Oh.."

"Yeah."

"So are you going?"

Greg looked back up at her.

"On the date?"

"I don't know, I've never really been good at this kind of stuff. Maybe when I was younger but...not now. I just..I got lonely, you know? That's why I set up the account."

Jasper looked down at the table for a second, "You should go."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah." Jasper smiled softly at him, "Now show me how this whole mingle thing works."

Jasper waited outside of the bathroom for Greg to get ready for his date. He wanted her opinion on his choice of outfit, not like she would know any different, but still, it would make him feel better. She could hear zippers and a spraying sound from behind the door and wondered why humans put so much effort into minuscule things like this.

"Aren't you ready yet?" Jasper asked, leaning against the door.

"I'll be out in a second..."

She walked a few steps from the door and leaned back on his desk, sighing. She heard the click of the door knob and looked up. When he walked out, she could feel her face flushing. Greg wore a neatly pressed blue dress shirt with grey pants and had his hair pulled back with a ponytail. He shoved his hands in his pockets looking up at Jasper, "So, what do you think?"

Jasper shrugged nonchalantly, averting her eyes, "I guess it's presentable." He looked cute...for a human.

"Wow, that means so much coming from you." Greg laughed, patting her arm as he leaned against the desk with her. "Is it weird I'm nervous?"

"Yes." Jasper replied bluntly.

Greg chuckled, "Yeah I guess you're right."

The sound of the front door being pushed open startled them both. "Hey Jasper, we need you for a mission." Amethyst walked inside casually eating something unidentifiable in a tortilla. "Woah, Greg. Got a hot date tonight or what?" Amethyst put a hand over her stomach and snorted.

"As a matter of fact, I do." Greg replied smugly.

"Ooh-ho, is that so? With who? Barb?"

"Uh...no. Her name is Michelle, and she should be here any minute."

"Uh huh...well good luck with that. Ya comin' Jasp?"

Jasper nodded, getting up from the desk. She turned to Greg, putting her hand on his shoulder, in a surprisingly gentle manner, "Don't be scared."

"Thanks, Jasper." Greg smiled at her sweet gesture, that she ended quickly, "Be safe!"

She nodded again, before following Amethyst out the door. Greg breathed in deeply through his nose, before letting it out slowly. Before he knew it, he saw the reflection of headlights bounce off the walls and walked outside to his date.

Jasper opened the van doors to see Greg sitting in dim lighting drinking from a bottle. It was past midnight and she hadn't expected him to be awake.

"Hey." Jasper closed the doors behind her and sat directly in front of him. "What's wrong with you?"

Greg shrugged, and took another swig of his drink.

"How was your date?"

"Eh...I've had better."

"What happened?"

"I guess she wasn't interested, is all. She was very pretty." Jasper nodded, tapping her fingers on her leg while he spoke.

"I told her I lived in my van, worked at a car wash, and it just kinda ended after that...didn't even get to tell her that I'm a multimillionaire."

"Why would that matter?" Jasper asked confused.

Greg chuckled, tipping his bottle back once more.

"What are you drinking?"

"Oh...you probably wouldn't like it."

Jasper blinked curiously. He had never said that before.

"Give me that." She grabbed the bottle from him and tilted it back, taking a big gulp. Immediately she choked and sputtered, "Ughhh what is that? Some kind of poison?"

"Heh, guess you could say that..."

"Why are you drinking it?"

Greg shrugged yet again, "Makes me feel better...'s not exactly good for me, but it's nice for a night like tonight."

Jasper quirked her eyebrow, hesitantly handing him back the bottle, "Humans are weird."

Greg couldn't help but smile, as he took the bottle back. He took one last sip before he capped it and reached behind to grab his guitar. "Here's a better way to get my mind off things."

"She's a tiger striped lady

And she seemed so shady

'Til I realized she was nothin'

But a softie-" he chuckled.

"Hey!" Jasper kicked his leg jokingly with her foot. "I am not soft."

"I don't believe that for a second." Greg grinned, playing another riff on his guitar.

Jasper summoned her helmet in a display of light, "Wanna fight and see who's really a softie?" She raised her eyebrow jokingly with a menacing grin.

Greg grimaced and paused his playing, "Nope, I'm good."

"Hmph, that's what I thought." She replied, getting rid of her helmet.

Greg sighed, running his thumb down the strings again, "Maybe I am getting too old for this.

"You're not old Greg. I've been around for over five thousand years. That's old."

"Yeah, but you don't age. You're still as strong as you were when you were made. Me? I'm getting weaker every day. Not to mention losing hair." He replied pulling his ponytail out.

"Who even cares about all that? You're a nice human...and you're one of the only people on this planet that I can tolerate." Jasper felt silly for saying that, quickly putting her head down as if to focus on her hands. "Michelle sounds like a clod anyway."

"Yeah...she kinda was." Greg smiled, "It's getting pretty late, I think I'm gonna hit the hay..."

"You say the strangest things."

"It means go to sleep." Greg chuckled, "You gonna try again tonight?"

Jasper nodded, before hearing Greg's device vibrate against the floor.

Greg picked it up curiously. "Oh...it's another message from mingle..." he glanced up at Jasper, "You know what?" He pushed his thumb against his phone and pressed the 'x', "I don't think I want this app anymore."

"Pfft, took you that long to figure it out?"

"Why? Know someone who might be interested in...Mr. Universe?" Greg flashed a smile, flipping back his hair.

Jasper laughed, "Nah, I just don't wanna see you sulking around every time someone dumps you."

Greg crossed his arms. "Well that's not very nice."

"Come on, I'm just kidding. You humans...so sensitive." Jasper lowered herself down on the mattress, closing her eyes.

Greg smiled down at the gem, removing his shirt and laying down as well, "Goodnight Jasper."

"Mmhmm."

Jasper jolted awake with a start, her breath getting caught in her throat, waking Greg.

Greg immediately looked her in the eyes with concern, "Are you okay?" He heard her, what sounded like struggling to breathe, tossed away his blankets and got closer to her, "You don't look so good."

Jasper rubbed her forehead with both hands, a throbbing pain surging through her head. She began panting anxiously as beads of sweat rolled down her neck.

"Jasper?"

"I–" She groaned, as the familiar pain spread through her body. Jasper fell to the side, thumping on the van floor.

"Jasper!"

She could only groan and growl loudly, as she could feel what felt like spikes tearing through her skin. Tears flowed from her eyes, and she began crying loudly when Greg tried comforting her. "It...it HURTS!" Jasper shouted.

"I'll go get the gems, they'll know what to d-"

"NO! Don't! Wait!" Jasper grabbed his hand as he was headed for the door. "Please stay."

She could feel Greg's fingers entwine with hers and she grasped his hand firmly. She wouldn't do it on purpose, but she was pretty sure she might break his hand.

"Okay. Take deep breaths with me." Greg inhaled and held it, before letting it out slowly. Jasper attempted to repeat his actions through whimpers. Even though gems didn't need to breathe, it still managed to at least calm her pain a little.

Jasper's tremors began to die down, her legs still shaking from the attack. She wiped the wet tears away from her face, still trying to breathe slowly. She groaned again, this time in frustration, "Why does this keep happening?"

"Is it because you were corrupted?" Greg asked, still holding her hand tightly.

"Yeah, I think so."

"...have you talked to Steven? Maybe he can try healing you more."

Jasper groaned again, letting go of Greg's hand and sitting up, "What else could he possibly do?" Her voice cracked, "I messed up. I'm getting what I deserve."

"You don't deserve this..."

Jasper shook her head. "Can I just ask you something? Why are you so nice? Like all the time?" She laughed under her breath, "Not just to me, but...everybody. Even that rude guy at the carwash."

Greg shrugged, blowing a puff of air through his mouth, "We all go through bad stuff. I've been through stuff too. I guess I'm 'so nice' to everyone, because I don't know everything people have been through, or if they've just had a bad day. Kindness is what makes life feel...like it's going to be okay."

Jasper sat quietly looking down at her lap and sighed, "How's your hand?"

"Hmm?"

"Your hand. I...I didn't squeeze it too hard did I?"

Greg smiled up at the gem, "My hand is just fine."

Jasper blushed, darting her eyes, "Well, I know how fragile humans can be."

"Hey! I may look fragile, but these babies can pack a punch." Greg grinned patting his arm muscle.

Jasper snorted, "Hah, right." She stretched, apparently flexing her beefy arms, "Well, you better get back to sleep."

"Oh, c'mon, now you're just showing off." Greg replied, crossing his arms. "Are you sure you're okay?

Jasper smiled, a light pink flush crossing her cheeks, "I am...now."


End file.
